The island side trailed 3-0 at half time to an Owen Ferguson goal and a Raymond Rennie double for the visitors - and with frustration spreading fast throughout the ranks, defeat seemed certain at the hands of a Lovat side which had lost all six of its league and cup fixtures in the early part of the season.

But a back-to-basics approach in the second half eventually paid dividends for Bute, and after Robert Walker pulled one back with 20 minutes to go the hosts quickly grew in confidence and added three more in the space of 15 minutes to stun the visitors and take the points.

Bute actually made a promising start on a pitch which was only just playable, heavy rain overnight and on the morning of the game requiring a squad of willing volunteers to fork the pitch and brush off the worst of the surface water.

But the hosts were struck by a hammer blow on 15 minutes when Lovat, on their first ever visit to Rothesay, broke quickly upfield with their first real attack and, with the Bute defence allowing their opponents far too much room, Ferguson gave keeper Kevin Queen no chance with his shot.

Graham Fisher was denied by a slightly fortunate save from the Lovat keeper as Bute sought a quick equaliser, but all too often Bute were affected by the same problem which had plagued the previous week's draw with Strathglass - plenty of possession but a distinct lack of a cutting edge up front.

And when Rennie hit Lovat's second on 25 minutes, the heads of the men in red really dropped, with team-mates bickering among each other in their growing frustration, while to make matters worse David MacDonald had to go off with a hamstring injury.

He was replaced by Ali Carmichael, with captain Hector Whitelaw moving back into defence, but the enforced reshuffle only unsettled the home team even more and Rennie's second ten minutes before the break made a difficult situation even more desperate.

A good few watching spectators, in fact, decided the outlook for Bute was so bleak that they turned their back on the game altogether at half time and decided to go and watch the football nearby instead!

But rather than read the riot act at the interval, coach Barry Martin merely encouraged his players to settle down and get into a rhythm which would allow them to play their preferred patient, passing game.

And with Lovat already beginning to look as if they were running out of steam, Bute were able to use their superior fitness levels, and the advantage of the slight Meadows slope, to slowly, but surely, grind down their visitors as the second half wore on.

A tactical move which saw Fisher switched to half back also reaped rewards, establishing a formidable partnership with Iain MacDonald, and Bute soon settled into their task, with passes which would have gone astray in the first half now finding their targets.

Nonetheless, with each minute that passed by the chances of Bute salvaging something from the game seemed to grow ever more remote - until the 70th minute, when Whitelaw squared the ball to Walker who gave the Lovat keeper no chance with a typically ferocious finish.

Five minutes later, and with Lovat rapidly wilting in the face of the oncoming red tide, Whitelaw dribbled through the visitors' defence before firing home Bute's second goal.

When the equalising goal did arrive, nine minutes from time, it came from a somewhat unexpected source - not from Walker or Whitelaw or any of the forward line but from Iain MacDonald, who launched a high lob into the Lovat danger zone - and with the visiting keeper temporarily blinded by the sun, the ball proved to have just the right combination of height and weight to drop into the back of the net and level the match at 3-3.

And from there it was only a question of whether Bute would have enough time to score the game's winning goal - a question which was answered within three minutes, when Whitelaw embarked on another run through the Lovat defence before firing home his second of the afternoon to clinch a victory which had seemed an impossible prospect less than half an hour before.

Bute's frustration did earn the team three bookings during the course of the match, with yellow cards shown to Fisher, Iain MacDonald and Roberto Zavaroni, though none of the trio had any cause to complain to referee Ronnie Campbell, who had an excellent game, allowing play to flow wherever he could.

On a happier note for Bute, the second half introduction of young substitute Robert Ferguson did Bute's cause the world of good, the youngster recognising the value of keeping the ball moving and encouraging others to do the same after coming on in place of Gordon McMillan.

Wide players Zavaroni and John McCallum also came on to a good game in the second half, suggesting that Bute may finally be ready to put their slow start to the season well and truly behind them and start climbing up the Premier League table.

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Bute's first team are back on home soil for the third week running this Saturday, May 3, when Inveraray visit the Meadows on Premier League business.

The Argyll side have made a strong start to the season despite being unable to play any games on their home turf at Winterton Park after damage caused to the surface as a result of last summer's Connect Festival concerts near the site.

They've won so far away to Strathglass, Lovat and Kyles in the Premier League, and followed that up with a 12-1 thumping of Glasgow Mid Argyll in the quarter-finals of the Glasgow Celtic Society Cup on Saturday, though their one defeat was a surprising 4-1 reversal against Lochaber at Spean Bridge.

Bute might also take heart from the absence from the Inveraray ranks this year of Russell Mackinlay, who scored nine of his team's 13 goals in their four league and cup victories over the island team last season.

Throw-up at the Meadows is at 2.30pm.

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Bute's second team were idle again at the weekend - their match at Kyles was postponed after officials decided the Tighnabruaich surface would be unable to stand up to the two games due to be played on the pitch on Saturday.

This Saturday Bute's seconds are away from home once again, this time against Col-Glen. Throw-up at Glendaruel is at 2.30pm.